Die holder



D I E HOLDER Filed April 19, 1929 I 'fi' 1' !L 4. 6

ATTORNEY A. RAFTER 1,778,339 I Patented Oct. 14, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT RAFTER, OF BELLEVILLE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO RAFTER MACHINE COM- IPANY, OF BELLEVILLE, NEW JERSEY,

RAFTER AND JOHN C. RAFTER, JR.

A PARTNERSHIP COMPOSED OF ALBER DIE HOLDER Application filed April 19,

This invention relates to machines for stamping sheet metal in desired shapes, and more particularly to an adjustable die holder for use on such machines.

Machines for stamping sheet metal are usually very heavy, often weighing in the neighborhood of 35,000 pounds and exerting pressures up to 200,000 pounds. The stamping operation is accomplished by bringing a male die member or punch into engagement, under high pressure, with the metal plate positioned on the female die member; Frequently, the machine is not properly adjusted in advance, and when the die members are brought together under the tremendous pressure employed, they bind to- 'gether with such a force as to prevent further operation of the machine.

Heretofore, it has been necessary to employ considerable labor and time to release the dies, the releasing process in many instances requiring one or two days, which obviously resulted in the stamping machine remaining idle for that time.

It is an object of this invention to provide a die holder for stamping machines, which die holder is formed from a plurality of relatively ad'ustable parts which enable the easy release 0 the male and female dies when they bind.

A further object is the provision of a readily releasable die holder which may be applied to standard stamping machines with out material alteration.

These and other objects are attained by the novel construction, combination and arl'angement of parts hereinafter described and shown in the accompanying drawing, constituting a material part of this disclosure and in which 1' Figure 1 represents a cross-sectional View of the die holder when in clamped position for normal operation of the stamping machine,

Figure 2 represents a sectional view of the die holder when in a released position to enable the easy unbinding of the die members.

Figure 3 represents a side elevation of the die holder as mounted on the bed of a stamping machine.

1929. Serial No. 356,400.

Referring to the drawings, the bed a of the stamping machine has secured thereon the die holder members 5 and 6, which are provided with recesses 7 in their sides to enable access to the threaded studs 8, the latter being threaded into the bed l. The studs 8 pass through orifices 8 in the members 5 and 6, said orifices being of greater diameter in one direction than the studs 4, so that the members 5 and 6 may be adjusted laterally as shown in Figure 2. The members 5 and 6 are clamped in a fixed position relative to the bed 4 by the nuts 80 threaded on the studs 8.

The members 5 and 6 are further held in tight engagement by means of the bolts 9, having threaded thereon the nuts 10. Further connection between the members and the bed is accomplished by means of a key 11 extending the length of the die holder and the bed, and serving to accurately position the members 5 and 6 for normal operation of the stamping machine.

Members 5 and 6 are provided with inclined surfaces 12 and 13 which coincide with similar surfaces on the wedge member 17, the latter resting in the groove formed by the inclined surfaces 12 and 13. Upward movement of the wedge member 17 is prevented by the inclined surfaces 14 and 15 on memhere 5 and 6, such surfaces being transverse to the inclined surfaces 12 and 13.

The wedge member 17 is provided with the usual groove 18 for holding the female die member shown in dotted lines at 19. It should be noted, however, that other means may be used for mounting the die on the wedge member 17. V

In operation, when the die members bind, the nuts 80 are loosened, and then the nuts 10 are released on bolts 9, thus allowing members 5 and 6 to move apart under the ti emendous pressure applied to the dies. When members 5 and 6 move apart, the wedge member 17 will slide downward on the surfaces 12 and 13, and the stamping machine may then be operated to release the bound dies.

Usually, it is only necessary to move the member 17 downwardly only about one or two thousandths of an inch, so that the stamping machine will not be impeded in executingits cycle of movements.

From the above description it will b readily seen that I have provided a die'holder which will enable the easy release of bound dies and perm ib-the normal'operation of a stampingdriachine in a short time. The die holder is so constructed that it may be ap- 5 plied to; the bed of any standard stamping machine. without material alteration.

.The foregoing disclosure is to be'regarded as descriptive and illustrative only, and not as restrictive or limitative of the invention, i of which obviously an emb odiment maybe constructed including 'many 'modifications without departing from the general scope herein indicated and denoted in the appended claims 7 Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new and desiretosecure by Let I ters Patent, is :v i I V 1. In a stamping machine, a pair of supporting members having their upper surfaces inclined inwardly to form an angular groove, means for adjustably connecting said members, a die holding member having a wedge shaped portion resting in said angular groove, and means to prevent upward movement of the die holding member in the angular groove. I p 1 v 2. A die holder for a stamping machine, comprising a pair of supporting members having their upper surfaces inclined inward- 1y to torman angular groove, means for ad- .7 justably connectingwsaid members, a wedgc member resting in said angular groove, and projections on said supporting members inclined transversely to the inclined surfaces to prevent upward movement of the wedge member in the angular groove. 1

3. A die holder for a stamping machine, said die holder having a wedge shaped lower portion, a pair ofsupporting members for the die holder, said supporting members havmg upper surtacesinclined inwardly to form an angular groove in which the wedge shaped lower portion of the die holder rests, and Vmeans to enable the supporting members to be spread apart so that the die holder may movedownwardly in the angular groove.

Thisspecification signed this 15th day of April, 1929. I, V I ALBERT RAFTER. 

